-The total
value of Nigeria’s merchandise trade was N6,569.98 billion in the second
quarter of 2018, which was a -8.89% contraction from the figure recorded in Q1,
2018 (N7,211.12 billion) and a 14.56% growth from Q2, 2017 (N5,734.80 billion).

-The
contraction of total trade in the reviewing quarter was mainly driven by the
decline in both imports and exports.

-The trade
balance in Q2, 2018 was a surplus of N2,356.60 billion, which is an 8.36%
increase from the figure in Q1, 2018 (N2,174.60 billion) and a 399.82% increase
from the figure in Q1, 2017 (N471.48 billion).

·The value of manufactured goods imported in Q2 2018
(N1,175.86 billion) declined by -1.2% over the previous quarter (N1,189.97
billion) but increased by 1.6% over the same quarter in 2017 (N1,157.65
billion).

·The value of Other oil products imported in Q2,2018
(N427.80 billion) was -49.5% lower than then value in Q1, 2018 (N846.31
billion) and -42.5% lower than Q2, 2017 (N744.58 billion).

Exports

Total export
value amounted to ₦ 4,463.3 billion in Q2, 2018, representing a
contraction of -4.9% over Q1, 2018 (N4,692.86 billion) and a growth of 43.8%
over Q2, 2017 (N3,102.14 billion).

·The export value for Agricultural goods in Q2, 2018
(N85.90 billion) was 17.3% higher than the value in Q1, 2018 (N73.24 billion)
and 127.3% higher than the value recorded in Q2, 2017 (N37.79 billion).

·Solid Minerals exports value in Q2 2018 (N19.93
billion) recorded a -25.98% quarter on quarter decline (N26.92 billion), and a
-19.7% year on year decline rate compared to Q2, 2017 (N21.02 billion).

·The value of Energy goods exported in Q2, 2018 (N10.99
billion) was 5.8% higher than that of Q1, 2018 (N10.39 billion) and 0.6% higher
than the value in Q2, 2017 (N10.93 billion).

·Manufactured goods exports in Q2 2018 (N69.86 billion)
recorded a significant decline by -83.9% over the previous quarter (N434.37
billion), and higher by 0.9%% when compared to Q2, 2017 (N69.26 billion).

·The value of Crude Oil exports recorded in Q2, 2018
(N3,728 billion) was 4.2% higher than the value in Q1, 2018 (N3,579 billion)
and 53.7% higher than the value in Q2, 2017 (N2,425 billion).

·Other oil products exports in Q2, 2018 (N516.32 billion)
declined in the reviewing quarter, with a -3.6% contraction from Q1, 2018
(N535.68 billion) and a 0.8% growth from the value recorded in Q2, 2017
(N512.41 billion).

Major Export
Trading Partners and % share to Q2, 2018 Export Trade.

§India
16.19%

§Netherlands
10.25%

§Spain
9.55%

§South
Africa
8.06%

§United
States 6.87%

Major
Import Trading Partners and % Share to Q2, 2018 Import Trade

§China
25.28%

§Netherlands
8.59%

§Belgium 8.11%

§India
6.88%

§United
States 6.72%

Major Trade
Agricultural Products.

§Cashew
nuts, in shell

§Seamus
seeds, whether or not broken

§Superior
quality raw Coca beans

§Good
fermented Nigerian Cocoa beans

§Other
frozen shrimps and prawns

§Other
quality raw cocoa beans.

Overview

The total value
of Nigeria’s external trade in goods amounted to N6,569.98 billion in the
second Quarter of 2018, which is a decrease of N641.1 billion or -8.9% from the
N7,211 billion recorded in the first quarter of 2018. The total trade value in
Q2, 2018 also shows a 14.56% growth compared to the amount of N5,734.80 billion
recorded in same quarter last year.

The Trade balance
in Q2, 2018 was N2,356.6 billion, which increased by 8.36% from Q1 2018 and
399.82% over the same quarter in 2017. The quarter and quarter increase of
trade balance in the reviewing quarter was driven by the slower decline in
exports compared to a higher decline in imports.

The total value
of exports in the quarter under review was N4,463.3 billion, representing a
-4.9% contraction over Q1 2018 and a 43.8% growth compared to Q2 2017.

Likewise, the
total import component in the first quarter (N2,106.7 billion) also recorded a
decline of -16.3%% on a quarter on quarter basis, and -19.9% year on year.

Exports in the
first quarter of 2018 was still dominated by Crude oil (N3,728.5 billion of
83.5%).

Imports
Classified by Standard International Trade Classification and Country of Origin

The total value
of imports into Nigeria in the second quarter stood at N2,106.7 billion, of
which N426.9 billion imports were mineral fuel (20.26% of the total import) and
N600.6 billion were machinery and transport equipment (28.5% of the total
import), while Chemical and Related Product imports accounted for 7.7% of total
imports.

Asia, Europe and
America continued to dominate as import destination into Nigeria in the
reviewing quarter, accounting for 44.4%, 38.3% and 10.5% respectively.

In the second
quarter, the top five import destination for Nigeria was China, Netherlands,
Belgium, India and United States which respectively accounted for N531.6
billion or 25.2%, N181 billion or 8.6%, N170.9 billion or 8.1%, N145.0 billion
or 6.9% and N141.5 billion or 6.7%. Import trade from African Countries
stood at N109.1 billion or 5.2% while imports from the region of ECOWAS
amounted to N14.2 billion or 0.4% of total imports.

Exports Classified by Standard International Trade Classification and
Country of Origin

In the reviewing
quarter, mineral products accounted for N4,275.3 billion or 95.8% of the total
export from Nigeria. This category of export was dominated by Crude Oil exports
which contributed N3,728.4 billion or 83.5% of total exports. The second
largest component of export in Q2 2018 were vegetable products, which recorded
N65.45 billion or 1.5% of the total export in the reviewing quarter.

Nigeria exported
most products to Europe, Asia and Africa which accounted for N1,849.1 billion
or 41.4%, N1,283.9 billion or 28.8% and 639.3 or 14.3% respectively. However,
within Africa, Nigeria exported goods valued at N265.1 to ECOWAS member states
representing 41.5% of the total export trade to Africa.

Exports by
country of destination showed that Nigeria exported goods in Q2 2018 mainly to
India, Netherlands, Spain, South Africa and United States valued at N722.6
billion or 16.2%, N457.6 billion or 10.3%, N426.1 billion or 9.6%, N359.8
billion or 8.1% and N306.5 billion or 6.9% respectively. These five countries
accounted for 50.9% of the total exports in Q2, 2018.

Export/Imports Products Classified by Sectors Q2,
2018

Agricultural Goods Sector

The total trade
of agricultural goods in Q2, 2018 stood at N310.4 billion (4.72% of total
trade), in which exports and imports recorded N85.9 billion (1.92% of total
exports) and N224.5 billion (10.66% of total imports) respectively. Exports of
agricultural products in the second quarter grew strongly by 17.3% compared to
N73.2 billion recorded in Q1 2018, while imports in the reviewing quarter
increased by 21.7% compared to N224.50 billion recorded in the previous
quarter.

Agricultural
products in the quarter under review, were mainly exported to Asia (N64.6
billion) and Europe (N15.3 billion).

Other major
agricultural products include superior quality raw cocoa beans which were
exported to Malaysia (N472.9 million) and Netherlands (N3.1 billion) and Frozen
shrimp and prawns which were mainly exported to The Netherlands (N1.9 billion)
and USA (N511.4 million).

In terms of
imports, Agricultural products with a total value of N224.5 billion were
imported into Nigeria in Q2, 2018, which was an increase of 21.7% compared to
N184.4 billion imported in Q1, 2018.

Major imported
agricultural products in Q2, 2018 include durum wheat not in seeds from Canada,
Russia, Australia with values of N15.1 billion, N23.5 billion, N14.3 billion,
respectively and durum wheat in seeds from Russia (N14.3 billion), United
States(N12.9 billion) and Canada (N6.1 billion).

Other
agricultural products such as Blue Whitings from Netherlands’ (N7.1 billion),
Russia (N4.7 billion), and Faroe Islands (N3.4 billion); Mackerel were imported
from Japan, Chile and the Netherlands which were valued at N3.8 billion, N1.9
billion, N1.8 billion respectively.

Solid Minerals Sector

The total value
of solid minerals trade recorded in Q2, 2018 was N37.2 billion, accounting for
0.57% of the total trade. The value of exported solid minerals stood at N19.9
billion while the value of imported solid minerals stood at N17.2
billion.

In the second
quarter 2018, Nigeria exported N9.2 billion of Naphthalene to the Netherlands.
This was followed by Cement (excluding white cement) of N2.4 billion to Togo
and N2.1 billion to Niger. Zinc ores and concentrates were exported to
China to the tune of N2.9 billion.

During the second
quarter of 2018, Crude salt was imported mainly from Brazil and Namibia with
values in the second quarter of N2.9 billion and N2.1 billion from the two
respective countries. Plasters of calcined gypsum or calcium sulphate
whether or not colored were imported from Turkey, Tunisia and Egypt, with
values worth N1.7 billion, N592.9 million and N467.8 million respectively.
Gypsum; anhydrite whether or not colored, with/without small quantities of
accelerators were imported from Spain, Switzerland and China, with values worth
N2.3 billion, N261.2 million and N34.2 million respectively

Manufactured Goods Sector

The total trade
of manufactured goods stood at N1,245.7 billion in Q2, 2018 accounting for
18.92% of total trade. In the reviewing period, the value of exported
manufactured goods from Nigeria was N69.8 billion (1.57% of total exports).
Manufactured goods exports included Cigarettes containing tobacco to Niger
(N3.2 billion) and Ivory Coast (N922.4 million); Cocoa butter, fat and oil to
Netherlands (N989.8 million) and Germany (N606.2 million) and Polyethylene
having a specific gravity >=0.94, in primary forms to China (N1.3 billion)
and Vietnam (N657.8 million)

The total value
of imported manufactured goods into Nigeria in the second quarter of 2018 was
N1.17 billion, or 55.82% of total imports. During the quarter, Nigeria
imported N 26.7 billion worth of motorcycles from India and N 12.9 billion from
China. A total of N31.0 billion worth of Herbicides and antisprouting products
were imported from China, and N1.8 billion from India. Besides motorcycles and
herbicides, Nigeria imported Milk & cream in powder (>1.5% fat not
contain sweetening matter specially made for infants) from Chatham Island, NZ
(N10.8 billion), Germany N4.8 billion and Netherlands (N2.2 billion)

Raw Material Goods Sector

The total value
of raw material trade in Q2, 2018 stood at N292.8 billion representing 4.46% of
the total trade. In the reviewing quarter, raw material goods exported from
Nigeria was valued at N31.7 billion in total, accounting for 0.71% of the total
export in the quarter.

During the
quarter, Nigeria exported Urea valued at N2.9 billion, N1,1 billion and N2.0
billion to Benin, Cameroon and Senegal respectively. Other raw materials including
leather further prep after tanning and tanned or crust hides and skins without
wool were exported to countries including Italy (N3.0 billion), India N(392.9
million) and Spain N2.5 billion).

Raw material
imports recorded N284.8 billion in the reviewing quarter, which is a 1.93%
marginal increase from the last quarter of 2017 and a 9.9% growth from the
first quarter of 2017. Sugar cane from Brazil which was valued at N15.7 billion
was the largest component of raw material import in the quarter, followed by
Milk preparations containing vegetable fats /oils, powdered/granular, packings
=> 25 kg, exported to Ireland (N4.8 billion), Australia (N1.8 billion) and
Malaysia (N1.7 billion).

Trade Intensity in Q2 2018

Export Intensity
Index with Five Major Trading Partners

The export intensity index compares the share of exports to each country
in Nigeria’s total exports, with the share of world exports going to that
country, and therefore gives a measure of the importance of that country to
Nigeria as an export destination. A higher number denotes a stronger
relationship, and an index of one indicates that exports to that country are
what would be expected given global trade patterns.

The export intensities of Nigeria showed Nigeria had a strong export
relationship with India, with export intensities of 4.6, 5.8 and 2.7 for April,
May and June. Similarly, an index greater than 1 was recorded for Spain
in all the months of Q2 2018, with export intensities of 4.8, 3.6 and 1.3. The
bilateral trade flow between Nigeria and Netherland was high in April and May
which was reflected by the export intensities of 2.3 and 1.9. However, there
was a downswing in June with an index of 0.90.

South Africa registered a high export intensity index of 11.1, 13.8 and
5.1 in all the months of quarter 2, 2018. The United States registered low
export intensities of 0.57, 0.67 and 0.20. This can be traceable to the mix of
products exported to this country during the period under review.

Import Intensity Index with five Major Trading Partners

During the quarter under review, the import intensity of Nigeria with
China was 1.59, 1.61 and 1.37 for April, May and June. This shows high
bilateral trade flow between Nigeria and China. There was also a stronger
relationship between Nigeria and India and this was reflected in the indexes of
1.8, 1.7 and 1.7 in the month of April, May and June. Similarly, Belgium
recorded higher import intensity in April and May with an index of 3.28 and
3.08. The Netherlands recorded high import intensity in April and May with an
index of 1.83 and 2.80 but recorded a lower index in June of 0.29. The import
intensity of the United States of America has remained low. This can be
attributed to the product mix imported during the period under review.

Trade by Mode of Transport

In Q2, 2018,
Nigeria’s major mode of transporting its goods for international trade was by
water. Transport of goods by water accounted for N4,426.7 billion or
99.2% of total exports. The goods exported by road accounted for N15.0
billion. The goods that transported by Air accounted for N11 billion, while all
other means of transport not specified accounted for N10.5 billion of total
exports.

In terms of
importing goods into the Country, the Sea continued to be the major mode of
transportation as it contributed N2, 019.8billion or 95.9% of total
imports. During the Quarter, Road transport accounted for N12.3 billion
and Air transport accounted for N74.5 billion.

Trade by Custom Ports and Post

The leading port
of operation during the quarter was Apapa port which accounted for N4,298.6
billion or 96.3% of total export. Apapa port was followed by Tin-can through
which goods worth N73 billion were shipped to other countries.

In terms of
imports, Apapa Port still remained the leading Port of operation with
transactions valued at N1,078.0 billion or 51,2%. The next leading port
was Tin-Can Island which accounted for N460.8billion or 21.9%.